Do you remember when entertainment consisted of climbing trees, splashing in rain puddles, making blanket forts, playing hide and seek or singing name that tune?
Today’s entertainment is much more complex. TVs are everywhere. iPods, iPhones and iPads captivate our attention. I see the tops of heads lately, with fingers frantically moving. Public restrooms are no longer place to quietly relieve ourselves, instead they offer streaming entertainment. Sometimes I hear both surround sound stereo and the TV blaring throughout the stalls. What is that about?
And then there is On the Go Entertainment, gas stations sporting the latest reruns of American Idol.
Do we really need this? What happened to a friendly conversation with the guy across from us who is also filling his tank?
I’m very concerned about the way our culture is adding more and more gadgets. Sure, we’re more tech savvy, but at what cost? With everything in life, each one of us has to count the cost.
Have we stopped to count the cost of our modern day entertainment?
Are we losing our ability to look eyeball to eyeball and talk voice to voice? I know I feel funny calling people nowadays. I prefer text or email. Why? I don’t know. I think in some ways I feel like I’m intruding. I will also admit I feel lonelier today than I did a few years ago. And according to Facebook and Twitter I have more friends than ever. Hmm. Something isn’t right. I’d gladly trade 1,000 text messages in for one more face to face friend time.
How can we hear the voice of God when the noise of today is louder than ever?
Where’s the solitude?
I don’t need another television to entertain me. What I need is more peace. I need other people. And I need God.
What price are we really paying for our on the go entertainment?
(Please share your thoughts in the comments. I’d love to hear your perspective.)
Interesting…I definitely try to carve out solitude, and I had a lovely face-to-face conversation with a friend the other day, and the only time we looked at our gadgets was to show each other a photo that illustrated something we were discussing.
One does have to make an effort, I think, because of the ubiquitous nature of technology and gadgets. These are all good questions you pose, and we should take time to examine our usage.